NWCUA: $130,000 for Credit Unions for Kids

The Northwest credit union community has raised more than $130,000 for Credit Unions for Kids to support six Children's Miracle Network Hospitals in Oregon and Washington, according to an Oct. 29 Northwest Credit Union Association release.

The funds were raised in October during a “Boardwalk of Miracles” auction at the NWCUA's Amplify Convention in Portland, Ore.

Boardwalk of Miracles auction items that were donated included gift baskets, vacation getaways, luxury shopping excursions and a travel package to attend spring training baseball games in Arizona.

One of the event's most emotional moments occurred when the CU Business Group of Portland, Ore., made the highest bid to win its spring training package and the gave it to Elijah Diggins, a 15-year-old survivor of Burkitt's leukemia, according to the NWCUA. Diggins served as the patient-spokesman for the auction.

The event's attendees also contributed $49,000 to fill nine Radio Flyer wagons with toys, which will be donated to the six CMN hospitals in the Northwest. The wagons are a longstanding tradition and are considered “happy therapy” for the sick children, the NWCUA said.

What's more, when auctioneer Jill Marie Wiles issued the “Cash for Kids” call, more than $42,000 was raised, the league said.

The fundraising event began in 1986 when a group of Northwest credit unions founded Credit Unions for Kids. A decade later, their model was adapted nationally and is now considered the “charity of choice” in the credit union movement, which provides funding for 170 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, the NWCUA said.

“The money raised at the Boardwalk of Miracles will help to fund research, build ICU wings for premature babies, and it will help to hire the most brilliant minds in medicine, dedicated to saving children's lives,” said NWCUA President/CEO Troy Stang. “We're honored to be part of Credit Unions for Kids.”